Chapter 4

As my eyelids slowly started opening I had expected to be blinded by the suns rays in the early morning but instead I was surprised to see myself gazing up at a pitch black sky with bright stars illuminating its endless depths. I was left momentarily confused before I took in my surrounding and realised that it was still night in the Glade and everyone was asleep. There was an exception though, apart from me that is, I quickly realised that the reason I was outside was because I was being carried but by who I didn't know until I looked up at his face and was lost in his chocolate brown eyes.

Of course it would be Newt that carried me towards where I could only guess was the homestead while I was asleep. I felt bad for falling asleep while we were sitting by the campfire earlier but secretly was happy I had been able to catch some more sleep after using a lot of my energy swinging from trees. Slowly Newt started walking up some stairs towards his room and I closed my eyes, feigning sleep so he wouldn't know I had been watching him.

Soon I was being placed on his bed and I pretended to stir in my sleep so that it didn't look suspicious when I opened my eyes to find him already watching me.

"Hey," I said sleepily

"Did I wake you?" He asked with worry in his tone and I had to hide my smile.

I shook my head and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Go back to sleep Willow, I'll wake you in the morning." He said gently

I nodded my head and began closing my eyes before I realised that he had started lying on the floor. I sat up to look at him but he already had his back to me as he faced the wall.

"Newt, what are you doing?" I whispered

He turned around to look at me and I could just make out the confusion on his face.

"Going to sleep?" He whispered back as a question, as if unsure of his answer.

"You can't sleep on the floor Newt get up here." I said, moving over to the side closest to the wall to make room for him.

"I - I don't want to make you uncomfortable or anything." He said

From the faint light coming from the a candle lamp outside I could see the redness of his cheeks as I crossed my arms over my chest as if to say 'are you kidding me right now?'

He sighed in defeat and got up from where he was on the floor so that he could climb into the bed with me. It was easy to see he was basically hanging off the side of the bed so that there was as much room as possible in between us.

"I don't bite you know." I whispered

He coughed awkwardly and I rolled my eyes at how big of a deal he was making this into. I sighed and rolled onto my side so that I was facing the wall and away from Newt.

"Goodnight Newt." I whispered

"Goodnight, Willow." He whispered back

The next day I woke up to the sound of sniggering and when I opened my eyes I saw Minho and Chuck staring at me in amusement.

"What the shuck are you two staring at?" I hissed as I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the reminisces of sleep that still remained.

Neither of them stopped laughing so I sighed and looked next to me to see what was so funny and what I saw had my face turning beet red. Instead of waking up in the same position I had been when I fell asleep I was being crushed into something hard that was not the wall I was facing. An arm was wrapped tightly around my waist and my fingers where interwind with the other persons while their hands rested on my stomach. Our legs where a bundle of limbs so it was impossible for me to figure out where mine ended and the other persons began. With a frightening start I realised who I was being held against, Newt.

I tried to move out of the little hug thing we were doing but when I tried to unwrap Newts arms from where they were on my stomach he groaned and pulled me closer to him which made me let out a squeak in suprise. Minho and Chuck could barely contain their laughter on the other side of the room while I couldn't stop the blush that kept my face as red as the tomatoes I had seen the track-hoes growing in the gardens earlier.

At some point I was able to untangle our legs so that I could actually see which limbs belonged to who but there was still the matter of freeing the top half of my body from Newts surprisingly strong hold.

"Would one of you slintheads just come and help me out already!" I said in exasperation

"You know its funny when you use our words." Minho commented as he walked over towards the bed.

"I know its flipping hilarious, almost as funny as seeing you fall flat on your butt yesterday." I hissed

The smirk on his face disappeared but only for a second before he was back to laughing and shaking his head at me. With help from Minho we were able to pry Newts hands off of me, long enough for me to slip out of the bed before he started groaning and stirring in his sleep. Before he woke up I grabbed Chuck and ushered Minho out of the room so that we wouldn't be there when he woke up.

The two of them lead me towards where all of the gladers where eating at picnic tables and as we passed each table I noticed each of the boys kept trying to sneak glances as me, it was annoying but I didn't say anything as we made our way towards Frypan who was handing out food to everyone in a que.

He didn't say much to the other gladers but when he saw me with Minho and Chuck he smiled brightly at the three of us as we collected our food.

"Sleep well last night Willow?" He asked

I shot a glance at Minho to see him cracking up besides me and I blushed furiously once again.

"You people just know how to make a girl feel welcome, don't you." I muttered

After the three of us collected our food we sat down at an empty picnic table and began eating. Newt joined us shortly after we began eating and I kicked Minho under the table when I saw the sly smirk on his face.

"Don't even think about it." I hissed

His smirk only seemed to grow before he wiped it off and replaced it with a look of fake innocence.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

I couldn''t say anything else because Newt came and sat next to me before I could get another word in. Chuck and Minho and skilfully sat so that they were on one side of the table with Minho in front of me and Chuck besides him, so that Newt and I would be forced to sit together because the picnic table was only built for four.

"Did you sleep well last night Newt?" Chuck asked, shooting me a cheeky grin as he watched Newt for his answer.

"Yeah actually, it was the best bloody sleep I think I've ever had in this place." He said

I sighed and put my head into my palm as Minho and Chuck started laughing. Newt looked completely lost as my face turned a completely new shade of red and I tried to cover myself with my hair so he wouldn't notice but I wasn't sure I did such a good job.

"Anyway, Alby wants you working today since he was the one that said you were equal and all he thinks you should start now." Newt said after a short pause.

I nodded my head and finished my breakfast quickly so that I could start the jobs as quickly as possible. The first job I was told I could do was in the Bloodhouse with the Slicers where I would be working with Winston. I was a little unsure about this job but somehow managed to convince myself that I should at least try all of the jobs incase there was one I was really good at, but something told me killing animals wouldn't be something I would be good at.

Newt walked me to the Bloodhouse while Chuck went off to his job (he wouldn't tell me what he did so I had no idea what it was he did) and Minho went off into the maze, later than he usually should have.

As soon as we walked in to the building a lot of scents hit me all at once. There was the unmistakeable smell of blood as well as the smells of the animals that I could identify as' chickens, lambs, cows and pigs. Winston greeted us as we walked further into the room and I smiled warmly at him.

"There's somebody you should meet," Winston said before Newt left

I nodded my head and followed him a few steps further into the building where he called out,

"Bark!" His shout echoed and bounced off of the walls but my attention was immediately elsewhere when I heard the quick sounds of claws scratching and kicking up dirt as the thing - hopefully another animal - ran towards us.

In a heartbeat I was lying on my back with a huge black blob lying on top of me and licking my neck and face. My first instinct was to be scared but something told me I didn't need to be as I slowly leaned onto my elbows and stared at the thing that had knocked me over. In front of me was a beautiful black lab with shiny fur, slightly muddy with dirt but nonetheless he was beautiful. His pink tongue hung out of his mouth as we stared at each other and then he was back to attacking me with his sloppy tongue.

I let out a heart-filled laugh as I played with the playful dog while he wagged his tail and Newt and Winston watched us both. The gorgeous dog rolled onto his back so that I would tickle him and I let out another laugh as he barked out a happy yip.

"Who's a good boy? You are yes you are. Aww your a beautiful boy aren't you, yes you are, yes you are a beautiful boy!" I cooed as I played with him.

I looked up a huge smile on my face as I saw both of the boys looking at me like I was a lunatic but Newt had a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"What? He's a cute dog." I huffed as I stood up and dusted the dirt off of my pants.

"I don't think Bark's ever taken to someone that quickly, apart from with me." Winston mused

I shrugged my shoulders and went back to scratching behind Barks ears while his tongue hung out of his mouth.

"Um Willow, maybe you should start with the actual job now?" Newt said

I sighed and gave the two boys an apologetic smile as I bid farewell to my new buddy. Newt left after that but Bark stayed by my side while Winston showed me around the Bloodhouse and pointed out where all of the animal pens where and how to take care of each animal.

For three hours I was shown what to feed the animals and how to clean their pens out and in the forth I was shown how to make a clean kill using an innocent lamb as a demonstration. After watching Winston slaughter the poor lamb and hearing its loud, but short cries of pain before it died I didn't think I would ever be able to eat again so when I was dismissed for lunch I didn't go straight to the picnic table area and instead wandered into the Deadheads so I could climb into a tree.

"Thought I would find you here." I heard someone call from beneath me.

I looked down and saw Newt leaning against the trunk of a tree opposite to me.

"Are you following me?" I joked

He laughed a little but I saw his cheeks heat up in embarrassment which I found extremely cute. Wait! What?

I did not think Newt was cute. I thought Bark was cute. Bark! That must have been it. They both have brown eyes so I must have been momentarily thinking about Bark while looking at Newt which is why I thought he was cute. There is no other possible explenation.

I swung down from the tree, leaving my confusing thoughts n the branches as I started walking towards Newt.

"Hey Willow?" Newt said as I leaned against the trunk of a tree opposite from him.

"Hm?" I said closing my eyes

"I um well uh it's like. Bloody hell forget it." He said in exasperation

I opened my eyes to see him staring at the grounded and kicking his foot into the dirt slightly.

"You can tell me Newt." I said with a reassuring smile.

"Nah maybe another time. Lets go eat." He said changing the subject

We walked into the Glade in silence and got our food from Frypan who gave me a hidden wink and a sly look at Newt as we walked towards a picnic table. I glared at him from across the room and I heard his laughter from in the kitchen followed by the sound of things clattering to the floor and lots and lots of cursing.

We didn't talk much as we ate and I somehow managed to force some food down my throat instead of just messing with it like I so desperately wanted to do. I could barely taste the food as I put it in my mouth so all I really got from it was a mild spiciness on my tongue. After we finished eating Newt told me to work with Frypan in the kitchen while he went to find Alby so I did and was happy to find Frypan did need some help.

"So you and Newt then eh Greenie?" He teased while we started preparing food for the gladers dinners.

"Slim it Frypan! We're just friends." I said

"You say that now, but I am a great judge of character and I can tell you two will be together. I'm never wrong." He said looking proud

"Yeah well can you tell me what I look like, you've got no mirrors here and I haven't actually been told if I look a mess or not." I said

"Well, you have green eyes, brown hair with dark blue streaks, you look like your about 5'4 and sixteen years old." He said

I nodded my head and started chopping up carrots for whatever we would be feeding to the gladers tonight. I was only in the kitchen for two hours and found myself having fun because Frypan kept on making jokes about random things. Even though he acted that way towards me, I was guessing there were few people he tolerated judging by his attitude when a boy I hadn't seen before tried to get a snack before it was feeding time.

After two hours of being in the kitchen with Frypan he dismissed me to go to another job so I went to go find another keeper to work with for the rest of the day. Sadly, the only keeper I ran into was Gally, the idiot who thought I wouldn't be able to do anything while I was here and wanted me banished. He was keeper of the builders

"Around here you can call me Captain Gally. You do what I say, when I say it, how I want it. Got it?" He instructed after I told him I was only spending time with him because of the job.

All I really needed to do was chop up some boards and nail them to other boards for three hours. I can honestly say that I wasn't a fan of being a builder and my thumbs had been attacked with a hammer on more than one occasion because of my poor aim. Gally kept shouting instructions at me and yelling at me when I didn't do something exactly how he had told me to. When he wasn't yelling at me he was screaming down some other kids ears telling them to stop slacking while they worked. I decided early on that I would do whatever it would take, not to be a builder.

Finally, my time was up and I was able to walk away from Gally and his moodiness with minor injuries and only a few cuts on my arms from when a wall I had tried to make, fell and splintered my skin. Just as I was walking back to the homestead I found Chuck walking away from the deadheads so I joined him in a little stroll.

"How did you like your first taste of working here then?" Chuck asked while we walked

"Well, I loved meeting Bark but wasn't a fan of the whole killing animals thing," I shuddered at the thought of the poor lambs scream of pain "but Frypan was really cool when I worked with him in the kitchens after lunch. Gally kind of ruined my mood though, he is such a shucking idiot." I huffed angrily

"You still sound funny when you use our words." Chuck giggled

"It's not like you sound any better mister!" I quickly defended

"Yeah I do!" He giggled again, his chubby cheeks turning red.

"No you do not." I said and began tickling him

He started running away from me and I let him go a few meters away from me before I chased after him and began tickling him again. We were both laughing hysterically by the time I stopped tickling him.

Once we had both caught our breath Chuck turned to me with an evil smirk on his face and a suspicious twinkle in his eyes.

"My turn!" He yelled before he started attacking me

I barely had enough time to roll away from the giggling boy before he launched himself at me to tickle me like I had done to him only minutes before. Suddenly another pair of hands were tickling me and I only got a glimpse of blonde hair before I somehow rolled onto my back and got into a crouching position before I sprinted for the trees of the deadhead.

"Get back here you bloody shank!" I heard Newt yell as he chased me with Chuck behind him

I let out a loud laugh as I ran further into the trees, only stopping to grab onto a branch so I could swing myself into a tree and hide. I heard Chuck run right past me but not Newt and my curiosity was answered when I saw his shadow lurking underneath the tree I was sitting in.

"I know your here Willow," He whispered "Come out, come out wherever you are." He said louder this time.

I heard him sigh before he started calling for back up and I started getting nervous as I heard multiple pairs of footsteps running towards the tree I was in. I tried making as little noise as possible as I climbed higher into the tree but a small branch snapped underneath my feet, alerting all of the boys of my location.

"Get her!" I heard Minho yell

The tree started shaking as the boys began climbing to get to me and suddenly, being hidden didn't matter as I jumped onto another tree as I tried putting more distance between me and the boys.

"You'll have to catch me first!" I yelled back at them as I jumped onto another tree branch

"She's on the move!" Newt shouted

"Why does she have to move so shucking fast!?" I heard another glader sigh in frustration

I didn't realise it until it was too late but the boys had been driving me towards the centre of the glade so that I was trapped with no trees to jump onto as I faced the large opening where the rest of the gladers all carried on with their business.

I was too high up to jump without injuring myself and I could feel the tree shaking as a glader began climbing towards me. I was trapped. I was anxious to get out of my current situation with as much of my dignity in tact as possible so I decided to surrender.

Just as I was about to alert the boys of my defeat the branch I was on cracked and with a sickening dread I knew what would follow next. My weight was too much for the small branch I was on and Minho (the glader climbing the same tree as me while it shook) could see the panic in my eyes once he reached the same level of the tree as me.

"Willow just slowly start walking towards me. Don't panic your going to be fine." He said soothingly

"Easy for you to say shuck-head your not the one about to fall and break your leg." I hissed

Just as the words escaped my lips the branch let out another crack and dipped slightly. Minho tried reaching out to me from where he stood but I was at the edge of the branch, too far out of reach for him to grab me as the branch finally collapsed under my weight.

I was falling for what felt like a lifetime but was only a few seconds before I hit the ground. I had expected it to be painful but oddly I didn't feel anything as I landed. When I looked up in search for an explanation I realised why I hadn't injured any part of me. Someone had caught me.

And that someone was Newt.